Russia-Bangladesh talks to open door on broader energy, military-technical cooperation
MOSCOW. Jan 14 (Interfax) - A joint statement and eleven bilateral agreements to broaden cooperation in the nuclear energy sector and in the military-technical cooperation sphere are to be signed in Moscow on Tuesday after talks between President Vladimir Putin and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed.
Hasina will be in Moscow on the first official visit in more than 40 years. Moscow welcomed Hasina's father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first prime minister of independent Bangladesh, in 1972. In 2012 Russia and Bangladesh marked the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations, established on January 25 1972.
After talks in the Kremlin the parties will sign a package of agreements, including an intergovernmental agreement on the settlement of Bangladesh's debts to Russia, which will help implement cooperation projects in the nuclear energy sector and in the military-technical cooperation sphere, the Kremlin press service said.
An intergovernmental agreement on the extension of a $500 million loan to Bangladesh to build the Rooppur nuclear power plant and an agreement to set up a nuclear energy information center in Bangladesh are expected to give a strong impetus to cooperation in the energy sector.
Bangladesh plans to build its first nuclear power plant based on Russian know how and is reconstructing and upgrading the thermal power plants, built with Soviet or Russian assistance.
In addition to this, Russia and Bangladesh are broadening interaction in the oil and gas sector. The two countries are implementing two contracts, signed by Russia's Gazprom and Bangladesh's Petrobangla in April 2012 on geological prospecting and on drilling ten exploratory and operating wells in Bangladesh.
Bilateral trade grew by 10% in the first nine months of 2012, compared to the same period in 2011, reaching $455.4 million, the Kremlin said.
The talks in Moscow are expected to produce memorandums on the mutual fight against terrorism and extremism and on cooperation in the spheres of justice, health care, medical science, agriculture, education and culture.
Putin and Hasina will "synchronize their watches" on the most pressing international problems and discuss interaction in the UN, as well as the problem of preventing climate change.